February 17, 2025
To:
The Distinguished Members of the National Assembly
National Assembly Complex
Three Arms Zone
Abuja, Nigeria
Subject: A Call to Defend Nigeria’s Constitution and Uphold Your Constitutional Duties
Dear Honorable Members of the National Assembly,
When you were sworn into office as the esteemed representatives of the Nigerian people and members of the 10th National Assembly, you took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
This oath is not a hollow ritual; it is a sacred covenant—a binding obligation to defend democracy, uphold justice, and preserve the rule of law.
Your mandate transcends the mechanical drafting of legislation; you are the last line of defense against tyranny, the guardians entrusted with safeguarding the lives, dignity, and future of every Nigerian—an obligation so fundamental that neglecting it would betray the very soul of our nation.
Since Mr. Tinubu took office—and since you swore your oaths to serve and protect—an unprecedented manmade humanitarian catastrophe has devastated the lives of ordinary Nigerians.
With each day of your silence, this crisis deepens, and the suffering reaches levels that should stir the conscience of any leader with an ounce of integrity and compassion.
Yet, you have remained passive, complicit in your silence, while the people you claim to represent are crushed beneath the heavy weight of hunger, poverty and despair.
The reported and unreported deaths from starvation and preventable diseases continue to mount, while you posture as indifferent spectators, unmoved by the human tragedy unfolding before you.
In a nation where millions wake each day haunted by the uncertainty of their next meal, where children wither from hunger and malnutrition, and where inflation has crushed the people’s purchasing power, you—our so-called leaders—shamelessly indulge in excess while the nation bleeds.
The suffering masses cry out for relief, but their pleas are met with deaf ears and hardened hearts.
The president, unmoved by the suffering of his people, rewards himself with a brand-new presidential jet. In a time when the government preaches austerity, this extravagant expenditure is a slap in the face of struggling citizens.
The vice president, in grotesque indifference, erects a palace at the obscene cost of over N21 billion, a disgraceful monument to greed amid widespread destitution.
And you, members of the National Assembly, have eagerly joined the feeding frenzy, wallowing in offensive opulence while the masses you swore to serve are suffocated by relentless suffering.
Lavish allowances, luxury SUVs, and self-serving legislation dominate your agenda while children are hungry, hospitals lack basic supplies, schools crumble, and pensioners die waiting for their meager entitlements.
Your message to constituents is unmistakable: the comfort of the elite trumps the survival of the masses you swore an oath to serve and protect.
While you indulge in unchecked extravagance, Nigerians demand answers: how did the Tinubu administration manage to squander 29.6 trillion naira—2.1 trillion in supplemental spending in 2023 and 27.5 trillion in 2024 budget—since taking office, with virtually nothing tangible to show for it? Where are the dividends from the subsidy removal?
Of course, the answer is no mystery: much of the 29.6 trillion naira, along with any savings from the subsidy removal, if any, was squandered in a toxic mix of fiscal irresponsibility, opaque governance, and rampant corruption.
Under your watch, public funds are brazenly siphoned off to sustain a parasitic political class that grows fat on the nation’s misery.
With the gravy train running nonstop, the Tinubu administration is set to squander another 47.5 trillion from the 2025 budget you approved unread. You must wake up, fulfill your constitutional duty, and hold the administration accountable before the nation is pushed further into irreversible economic ruin.
The question remains: will you wake up from your slumber and change course, or will you wait until the tide of desperation becomes an unstoppable force that neither jets, palaces, nor privilege can withstand?
Beware that the people’s patience is not infinite. History has shown, time and again, that when a nation’s leaders grow deaf to the cries of the oppressed, the oppressed eventually find their voice—and that voice, when unleashed, can shake the very foundations of power. The power you hold belongs to the people.
The growing mass desperation and anger is captured in the heartbreaking story of Amina, a mother in Kano, whose daily reality reflects the unimaginable suffering of countless Nigerian families:
My name is Amina, and I live in Kano with my two children—Fatima, who is 4, and Musa, who is 2. Every morning, I wake up with dread, wondering how I will feed them. Last week, I sold my last piece of jewelry just to buy a small amount of rice. Even that is almost gone now. The price of food has tripled, and what little my husband earns as a laborer barely covers the cost of a single meal. I watch my children cry from hunger, their eyes dull with weakness, while I sit helpless, praying for a miracle. Meanwhile, I see politicians on TV celebrating, dining on lavish meals and driving cars that could feed entire communities. How can they live with themselves when our children are starving?
Yes, the suffering of ordinary Nigerians didn’t begin overnight; it took root under the disastrous leadership of Tinubu’s predecessor. But instead of charting a new course to ease the pain, Mr. Tinubu—along with the National Assembly—has taken that suffering and put it on steroids, amplifying hardship with reckless policies and an unrelenting indifference to the plight our people.
Is there no flicker of conscience left in you? No shred of humanity to stir your hearts? How do you sleep when your comfort is purchased with the blood and suffering of millions of fellow citizens?
History will remember you, not as lawmakers, but as betrayers who stood idle while our nation bled. Your hands are stained—not just with political corruption, but with the silent, uncounted deaths of those you chose to abandon.
Never in the recorded history of humanity has so few inflicted such immense suffering on so many. Your lack of courage, indifference, and neglect have turned the legislature into a monument of national disgrace and shame.
This national tragedy is not just an abstract statistic—it is etched in the lived experiences of countless Nigerians, like Tunde, a father from Ibadan whose story lays bare the devastating consequences of your inaction:
My name is Tunde, a father of three from Ibadan. I once believed in this country, but today, that belief is dead. My business collapsed under the crushing weight of inflation, and now I drive a keke just to survive. Last month, my wife gave birth at home because we couldn’t afford hospital fees, and last week, I buried my five-year-old son, Ayomide, who died of a treatable illness because there were no drugs at the government clinic. I watch politicians live in obscene luxury while we ration a cup of garri for dinner. The National Assembly was supposed to defend us, but instead, they’ve chosen silence while we perish. How do they sleep at night knowing their inaction has turned our hopes into graves?
It appears you have chosen self-interest over national survival, comfort over conscience, and luxury over lives. Future generations will remember you for your complicity in the slow, grinding destruction of a nation that once hoped you would lead with courage and integrity.
This letter is a cri de coeur imploring you to honor your duty of care and fulfill your constitutional obligation to serve in the best interests of the people who entrusted you with their mandate.
Part 2: Tinubu’s Imperial Presidency
Clearly, our Constitution established three coequal branches of government to prevent tyranny through a system of checks and balances. Today, under the creeping imperial presidency of Tinubu, that constitutional order faces its greatest threat since 1999.
President Tinubu is aggressively working to subvert the constitution, expanding his power beyond its legal limits while crippling the mechanisms designed to restrain him. He has already captured and compromised the judiciary, turning it into a rubber stamp for his authoritarian ambitions.
While you watch in silence, the administration has consolidated power like never before, stifling dissent, using legal systems (lawfare) to target critics, turning the EFCC into a tool against perceived “enemies”, and deploying state security forces to unlawfully arrest, detain and intimidate protesters, critics, journalists, and political opponents.
Additionally, the administration’s unilateral decisions on crucial economic policies—such as the abrupt removal of the fuel subsidy, reckless devaluation of the currency, and excessive borrowing and spending—without legislative consultation or a comprehensive plan to mitigate their devastating impact on citizens, highlight a blatant overreach of executive power.
With the judiciary neutered, the military pacified with co-opting perks and reduced to a submissive lapdog, religious leaders bought with favors, and the people sedated and subdued into helplessness, the last remaining check on Tinubu’s unchecked imperial rule is you, the members of the National Assembly.
Your failure to check the unlawful undermining of the Constitution has allowed Tinubu’s leadership to subvert democratic institutions and suppress dissent, mirroring that of autocrats who view the state as an extension of their personal empire.
The absence of meaningful legislative resistance has not only undermined the Constitution you swore to defend but has also betrayed the trust of the Nigerian people who depend on you to be the guardians of their rights and freedoms.
The APC majority in the National Assembly, including those who usually uphold the constitution, have instead shown unquestioning obedience to party directives and unwavering fealty to Mr. Tinubu.
Meanwhile, minority members—though I hesitate to call them the opposition, as no real opposition exists—have folded and abandoned their responsibilities entirely.
Atiku and Obi, once regarded as strong challengers and influential opposition leaders, have been marginalized and rendered politically irrelevant. They now resemble television pundits, offering ineffectual commentary from the sidelines instead of providing decisive leadership. Their presence offers no meaningful resistance to Tinubu’s increasingly firm hold on power.
The disillusionment with Atiku and Obi is not just political—it is deeply personal for many Nigerians who once saw them as beacons of hope. Chinedu, an electronics trader in Onitsha, captures this sense of betrayal:
My name is Chinedu, an electronics trader in Onitsha. In 2023, I closed my shop for days to campaign for Peter Obi because I believed he represented hope for a better Nigeria. My friends and I spent our hard-earned money printing posters and traveling to villages to spread the message of change. But after the election, we watched in disbelief as Obi retreated into the shadows, reduced to TV interviews and empty social media posts. Atiku isn’t any better—just another voice whining on television without a plan or strategy. Meanwhile, Tinubu’s grip on power grows stronger each day. My business is collapsing under unbearable costs, and my family eats just once a day now. We needed leaders to fight for us, but instead, they abandoned us. If they won’t lead from the front, why should we follow them again?
As the stench of dead bodies lining the streets from Aba to Zaria—victims of Tinubu’s disastrous policy messes—fouls the air across the nation, with thousands more Nigerians perishing from starvation and disease each day, you pinch your noses and go about whatever it is you do in the Assembly, feigning ignorance while the people you claim to represent choke on the consequences.
Rather than standing as a check on executive overreach, you have become enablers of a failing system—rubber-stamping reckless policies, turning a blind eye to corruption, and offering nothing but empty rhetoric while the country descends into crisis.
Yet, the stakes could not be higher.
If Tinubu succeeds, Nigeria risks sliding into one-man rule, where power is wielded without accountability and dissent is crushed without recourse. No one—including you—will be spared from the devastating consequences of an authoritarian regime.
Let me remind you: your allegiance must be to the nation, not to your party, religion, tribe, or region. You were elected to serve all Nigerians, regardless of their background, and your duty of care is to the nation and its citizens above all else.
If you refuse to take action and hold Tinubu accountable for his reckless policies and imperial tendencies, history will not remember you as leaders or defenders of the people. Instead, you will be seen as empty shadows of power, drifting into irrelevance while the nation you were entrusted to protect crumbles before your eyes.
We, the people, will remember this moment—whether you chose to stand as defenders of democracy or remained silent as enablers of tyranny. The decision is yours, but the burden of its consequences will rest on you for betraying our collective trust.
It’s Not Too Late to Become Warriors for Nigeria
I honestly believe there are some good men and women of conscience in the National Assembly who place the unity of our nation and the welfare of our people above party, religion, tribe, and region.
There are still among you true warriors for Nigeria—patriots who are both willing and able to go the distance to save our country from the reckless ambition of one man and his enablers.
To these patriots, I urge you to rise to this moment. Stand firm and wield your constitutional shield and coat of arms to defend our democracy and defeat tyranny.
You owe it to yourselves, to the long-suffering Nigerians who entrusted you with their mandate, and to future generations who will one day look back at the 10th Assembly—not as silent bystanders, but as the defenders who had the courage to stop Nigeria’s descent into dictatorship.
History is watching. Will you be remembered as those who stood for the people or those who surrendered their power to a despot? The choice is yours—but the consequences belong to us all.
If you fail to act now, you will be complicit in the destruction of the very institutions that uphold the republic. The time to resist this dangerous power grab is now — before it’s too late.
I urge you to reflect on your oath, your responsibilities, and your duty to the Nigerian nation. Stand up, reclaim your constitutional authority, and act in defense of our democracy before it is too late.
President Tinubu has committed horrendous crimes against the Nigerian people—crimes that have condemned millions to suffering, despair, and untimely deaths. You have a solemn duty to impeach him and remove him from office. The nation is watching. Do your job.
Sincerely,
Dr. Nnaoke Ufere
Nigerian Patriot
